It doesn’t sound like Baldur’s Gate 3 will be on Game Pass anytime soon - if ever
"We made a big game, so I think there's a fair price to be paid for that”
If you’ve been holding out hope that Baldur’s Gate 3 might find its way onto PC Game Pass in the future, I’ve got some bad news for you: it’s very unlikely to happen.
Speaking to IGN, Larian head Swen Vincke said that the studio had always resisted any suggestion that the enormous CRPG might end up on Microsoft’s subscription service, saying: “We always said from the get-go, it wasn't going to be on Game Pass.”
Vincke’s reasoning is fairly sound in my book, expressing an honest evaluation that the sheer scope of Baldur’s Gate 3 - which will likely take you dozens of hours to finish, even without falling deep into its side quests or trying to bed the sexy vampire man - means it’s completely acceptable to ask players to pay for the game and recoup its development costs, especially as it doesn’t ask for any extra investment beyond that price tag. (With no DLC or expansions planned for the foreseeable, either.)
"We made a big game, so I think there's a fair price to be paid for that, and I think that that is okay," Vincke said. “We don't charge you any micro-transactions on top of it, so you get what you pay for.
“Upfront it's a big meaty game. So I think that should be able to exist as it is. This is what allows us to continue making other games.”
Documents accidentally leaked earlier this year as part of the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger revealed Microsoft’s estimation that it would cost $5 million to secure Baldur’s Gate 3 for Game Pass.
Given the runaway popularity and awards haul of Baldur’s Gate this year, that number looks like an absolute bargain now compared to the prices suggested for subpar Batman spin-off Gotham Knights ($50m), fighting game reboot Mortal Kombat 1 ($250m) and Star Wars action-adventure Jedi: Survivor ($300m). (Thanks, Eurogamer.) Bear in mind that Microsoft also seemed to be a bit dismissive in their evaluation of BG3 as a “second-run Stadia PC RPG", too - though even Larian admitted they had no idea how successful Baldur’s Gate 3 might become given the niche nature of the CRPG genre. It’s paid off, to say the least.
Last month, Vincke admitted that the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 “frightens us - but in a good way I think". If you haven’t heard, it's definitely worth the price of entry.